The Song of the Fire Stones

Bouragner Felpz, the renowned Magician’s Consultant, has never been known to sing. Yet sing he does, as do any who touch the unusual fire stones that have been unearthed around the Willowbee mansion. What put the song in the fire stones? What does it mean? Who is it for? The answer lies in an ancient legend, and in the mysterious ghostly riders that have begun to appear, galloping around Willowbee Hall.

I love music. I love listening to music, I love making music, I love dancing to music. Music is, I think, about as close to real magic as we can get in our universe. It’s always struck me that musician and magician are not so different looking words when you think about it, and that this may not actually be a coincidence. Of course, music-driven magic is not something I alone have come up with: it was also used brilliantly by my idol, Diana Wynne Jones, in her novel The Magicians of Caprona. Although I must say that book did not have so much influence on this story; I’m only mentioning it because it’s really a smashing good book and it would be a shame not to. Song of the Fire Stones owes more, I fancy, to those wonderful tales where relics from a glorious and ancient past turn up in unexpected places—sometimes with dramatic results. It’s also an homage to Sherlock Holmes (as is the whole Bouragner Felpz series, I suppose), in so much as, where Holmes goes around revealing mysterious and terrifying murders has having natural solutions, Felpz goes around providing happy endings to situations that would, in less capable hands, quickly spiral out of control. But mostly, I like music.